A Chance Of Family
by TD90
Summary: Harry returns to Hogwarts for his 7th year, after the war, and receives the shock of his life when a first year is sorted with familiar black, green eyes and the surname Potter.
1. Prologue

"**POTTER!"**

The shout rang out across the great hall, echoing in the sudden silence, seeming to sweep all other noise before it leaving a empty hollowness of noise behind. The sorting hat which had just issued the resounding proclamation appeared to gloat silently or as much as a moth eaten and worn Wizards hat was capable of doing.

The eleven year old girl upon who's head it currently rested on, sat on a stool in the middle of the floor, shaking in her second hand faded black robes.

Her long yet untidy tumbling raven black hair framed her thin and delicately boned face, as she lifted her piercing yet soft green eyes up from the floor and stared across the open air of the hall, into an identical pair of green eyes.

A pair of identical green eyes which belonged to the most famous wizard in Britain, a pair of eyes hardened in battle and now open in shock, the eyes of Harry Potter.

"And what did you mean by that?" Minerva McGonagall the new Headmistress of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, finally spoke up into the silence from the top staff table.

"**Potter, I said this girl is a Potter, there's simply no denying it." **The hat spoke more quietly, now it had the upmost attention from every soul in the hall.

It was plain from the tone that it was using that the hat was throughly enjoying its moment in the limelight and the disruption it had caused.

Harry Potter sat numbly at the Gryffindor table, locked into a gaze with the small first year girl currently perched upon the stool, a girl who shared his untameable hair, his signature green eyes and now it appeared his name.

Unable to form a coherent thought to the bombshell delivered by the hat and as hundreds of hissing whispers broke out all over the great hall. Harry Potter could only stare until the whispers had turned into a full fledged roar of questions and gossip before he realised that this could be a possibility for a family and that he would stop at nothing to get an answer to that question.


	2. Chapter 1: Snape's Secret

**October 31st 1981: Godric's Hollow**

At a sleepy little village in the middle of west Wales, there existed a small stone cottage, as the warm golden light shone out of it's welcoming looking windows it exuded the air of simple comfort and friendliness that only a house in which there was much love ever could.

This cottage housed the Potters, a small new family who needed this cottage not only as a home but also as a hiding place. Why? Because the Potter's newest member, a one year old baby was hunted, hunted by the most feared and powerful dark wizard the world had known in centuries.

This wizard the self proclaimed Lord Voldemort searched for this child due to a prophecy concerning himself and a possible equal to him, an equal he considered that the young Harry Potter could be.

This charm kept the potters safe within the secret as the only way for them to be found was for the person entrusted with their location, the "secret-keeper" to voluntarily give the information to people wishing to find them.

Unfortunately for James, Lily and little Harry Potter they had made a horrifying error in which whose trust they had placed themselves, for their chosen secret-keeper, an old friend, fellow marauder and honorary uncle Peter Pettigrew was a traitor to the light and a servant of the dark lord Voldemort.

For only hours earlier Pettigrew had revealed gleefully to Lord Voldemort the location of the Potters at their cottage in Godric's Hollow and had started in motion a chain of events which would rock the world.

* * *

Lily Potter had not expected to be a mother at such a young age, the slim and leggy redhead had when she had thought about children at all confidently expected to have made inroads into the career of her choice before she and James had a standing as she was now, in the doorway to harry's room watching her son innocently sleeping in his crib, she could not have believed that she could ever have felt this level of love to be possible within her. Turning away from her son and gently closing the door closed behind her, she went in search of her husband silently thanking Merlin that her beautiful baby boy now at least slept mostly through the night.

Slowly stepping down the creaky wooden staircase, she thought to herself. "22 years old is not too soon to have a baby is it?" When she had first discovered she was pregnant with Harry, her shock had been complete, she and James had not been actively trying for a baby. Talking together before they had gotten married they had agreed that the current conditions of danger and fear were not ideal for raising a child. But nature had run it's course and not even a year into their marriage they had found themselves expecting their first child.

Once she had gotten over her own surprise she had immediately wanted to tell James, waiting up for him to come back from a order mission, sick with nerves from his unforeseeable reaction to this piece of news. He hadn't moved for over a minute but stayed as still as a statute until a slow, massive smile had wrapped around what seemed the entire lower half of his face. Suddenly moving to hug her and lift her off her feet he laughed and exclaimed. "I'm going to be a dad!"

Seeing him so happy had abruptly allowed herself to be able to feel the joy of the moment as well and she laughed back at him. "Yes, you wonderful silly man, your going to be a father."

"We've got to tell Sirius and Remus!" James loudly declared. "When do they get here next."

"The rest of the order would probably also like to know as well, and what about Peter?" Lily gently rebuked him.

"Of course we'd tell him too, he just needs to come around more often is all." he said.

"You can't blame him if his mother is sick can you." she stated.

Discussion forgotten they beamed at each other, their worries and stress lifted off them with the arrival of what now seemed fantastic news.

Nuzzling into James's chest, Lily murmured into his body. "We're going to be a family."

From that point on, nothing had seemed to upset or drag Lily and James down, they and their friends had carried the knowledge of the baby inside themselves like a talisman against the pervading gloom and tragedy of the war that surrounded them. It was at this point that the growing family had moved to their little cottage in Godric's Hollow, and amid the death and horror circling them they busied themselves preparing for the arrival of the baby and for this brief interlude enjoying their happiness.

* * *

This oasis of peace came to a juddering halt one day in early March, when four months into the pregnancy there had been a knock on their front door.

Coming to the bottom of the cottage's narrow staircase, Lily paused in her search for her husband. With a sigh she thought back to that day almost a year and a half ago when a knock at their door had began this nightmare.

"Professor Dumbledore! What a pleasant surprise." Lily said, opening the old oaken door wider so as to allow the venerable old wizard entrance.

"Come in." She hustled the leader of the order into the house. "James is in the study I'll just fetch him now. Tea Professor?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Yes thank you Lily and please call me Albus, you and James haven't been students of mine for a number of years now." Dumbledore answered smilingly.

As Lily hurried out of the hall and went to find and fetch her husband, Dumbledore waited patiently in the hallway, his heart heavy with the knowledge that the news he was bringing could be potentially devastating to this new young family.

"Proffes- I mean Albus, it's good to see you again." James said, walking into the hall.

"Is everything alright, everybody's ok?" he asked as Lily ushered the other two into the lounge and started serving tea.

"As far as I'm aware everybody is currently in the best of health, I'm happy to say that Alastor will make a full recovery though his eye I'm afraid will never be recoverable." Albus spoke with solemnity.

"Well Moody was always a tough bugger, you've should've seen the drills he made me and Sirius go through." James said.

"He is resilient." Dumbledore agreed. "And how are you two, is the pregnancy progressing well?"

"We're fine." Lily shyly answered wrapping one hand over her stomach.

"Good, but now I must unfortunately to the business which brought me here." Dumbledore said his eyes visibly losing their customary twinkle. "Tell me what do you two know about Prophecy."

* * *

Lily paused as she saw the back of James head, sitting down in his favourite chair, his messy black locks which she had always loved to run her hands through reminded her so forcibly of her baby son's hair. She had been overjoyed to discover after his birth that Harry would share that feature with his father. Walking around to the front of James, she saw that he had fallen asleep in the seat, his mouth slightly open and snoring gently. She leaned against the wall watching him slowly breath in and out and remembered the horror and shock that the long ago conversation with Dumbledore had produced and was still generating. The fact that Lord Voldemort the most terrifying dark lord for centuries was actually seeking to kill her child was a fact that nearly a year and a half later still seemed dreamlike. A nightmare in which she and James were placed in which both of them were helpless to do anything to save their child.

They had set up the _fidelius charm_ a week after Harry was born, protecting their little cottage in Godric's Hollow, and had tried to get on with lives, trying to ignore the chill and fear that they both felt for their son.

Lily dried the sudden tears which threatened to burst out of her at all times these days, the only thing stopping them normally seemed to be the joy that Harry brought into their lives.

This had been a very quiet Halloween for them this year, with only the three of them in the house, the security measures needed in their situation had obviously had the effect of allowing fewer visitors for them to speak to, and they admittedly didn't leave the house much but at least they were still safe.

When Sirius had been their Secret-Keeper he had visited as often as possible and his visits were always moments when they could forget the horrible danger hanging over them. But last week Sirius had come to them, expressing the need for a new Secret-Keeper, there was a spy in the order and Sirius had already had a close shave while on a mission and if he got captured the possibilities were hideous.

So he had come to them with a plan, to secretly swap Secret-Keepers and then to carry on as if nothing had changed, in an effort to draw off suspicion from their now new Secret-Keeper Peter.

Trying to throw off the gloomy thoughts, Lily slowly sat down next to him, trying to not wake him, she snuggled into James's side, the warmth he provided allowing her to slowly sink into a peaceful doze as well.

Not knowing that this night would change her life forever.

* * *

Now Lord Voldemort strode down the narrow cobbled street which led to the small stone cottage in which the Potters resided, oblivious to the approaching danger. The cottage which now existed to him, as his servant and spy had revealed the secret to him. How foolish of the Potters to believe that they could hide from him Lord Voldemort, the greatest wizard to have ever lived. He would make them pay for their arrogance tonight.

At the edge of the ward line he stopped for a moment, savouring the feeling of purpose he felt, knowing that he was about to take one further step on the road to immortality and that his next actions would ensure that no one could ever hope to be an equal to the great Lord Voldemort. Negligently waving his wand he set up his own anti-apparation and portkey wards allowing for no chance of escape, as with a cold smile upon his face he crossed the ward boundary, savouring the fear and panic that he knew he generated in his adversaries knowing they faced him and their death.

* * *

Sleeping on the sofa with Lily next him, James Potter suddenly jerked awake, the cottage's wards that were tied to him indicating that a person who was not known to them had crossed the ward line and was approaching the house. Jumping to his feet, he drew his wand in one movement and quickly shook Lily awake.

"Lily get up, quick, someones here." He hissed into her ear, shocking her into full wakefulness.

"Someone's crossed the wards, who's not keyed in." He told her before running to the window and peering out into the dark of the night.

At this Lily drew her wand as well and ran after him but she wasn't able to reach his side before his next words froze her in fear.

"It's him Lily!" the dread in his voice informing her who exactly him was.

"Lily, take Harry and run! I'll try and hold him off!" he shouted at her.

With a sob and a last squeeze of his hand Lily turned on the spot and rushed to the stairs, her thoughts a confused mixture of alarm and fear, but with the overriding instinct to get to Harry. She hadn't made it to the bottom of the stairs before the front door behind her was blasted off it's hinges and sent careening into the room. Her feet seemed to move too slowly for her thoughts, a icy terror gripping her heart and making her mind race, while her body seemed stuck in a quagmire. Her left foot had just started to climb the first step when the sound of curses and spells hurtling through the air reached her ears. The flashes of light illuminating the hall in a strobe of different colours.

She turned the corner of the stairs up onto the upper floor, her heart in her mouth as she saw out of the corner of her eye an image of her husband, the man she loved facing off against the most cruel and feared man alive. Oh James! She thought, please be alright. Before running into Harry's room and slamming the door shut behind her.

As Lily turned and ran to the stairs, James had calmly walked to stand inbetween them and the door, he breathed quick shallow breaths as he tried to master the panic that threatened to overwhelm him. But the knowledge that he stood, protecting the Dark Lord from his wife and child, filled him with resolve. For as the front door was flung out of the doorway with a splintering crash towards him he knew that given the choice he would be nowhere else, but here, between danger and his family, keeping them from harm.

Even as this thought bolstered him, he knew that as the Lord Voldemort appeared in the doorway to their home, that he was no match for him, and that holding him off long enough for Lily to escape with Harry was the best result that he could hope for. So standing resolutely against Lord Voldemort in his own home, James Potter accepted his probable death, he would gladly exchange his life for his family.

* * *

"Potter" Snarled Voldemort.

"You know how futile of you it is to face me like this alone." He intoned slowly into the air between them.

"I don't care, I know why you've come here tonight and you will never get to him." James replied. "I just have to stop you until Dumbledore gets here."

"But is your great leader, Albus Dumbledore here now?" Voldemort laughed cruelly. "By the time the old fool arrives, your precious son will be dead beneath my wand."

Suddenly, in an instant, James's wand had jabbed forward launching a yellow hex at Voldemort, who spun away from the spell, simultaneously waving his yew wand and conjuring three large striped snakes in front of him. With a hiss he ordered them to attack. Ending his spin with a thrust of his wand and firing a red sparking ball at great speed at James.

As the snakes rapidly slithered towards him, James quickly banished two of them through the cottage window, and conjured a bronze shield which deflected the red ball with a gong, sending it into the mantlepiece over the fire, exploding it into debris. He transfigured the sofa to one side of the room into a large lion, which leapt upon the remaining snake, savaging it to death. Voldemort promptly blasted the lion into bits, which immediately turned back into the stuffing and cloth of the sofa and scattered all over the room. In almost the same motion as when he dealt with the lion, Voldemort started to launch curse after curse from his wand at James, the numbers making it almost appear as if there was a solid line connecting Voldemort's wand to James's hastily thrown Protego shield, which was visibly weakening every second. No wizard had the strength to hold out under the onslaught that Voldemort was attacking him with.

"How does it feel to die knowing I will kill your wife and son." spat Voldemort at his opponent.

"Harry will defeat you someday." James gasped out, sinking down to one knee, struggling to hang on to his shield.

"Not if I kill him now." Voldemort taunted, intensifying the strength and volume of curses hitting the shield, until with a hiss of exertion he struck a particularly powerful curse against James's shield, shattering it and sending him reeling.

"But you die here! _Avada Kedavra_" shrieked Voldemort, uttering the dreaded killing curse, the flash of green light sent directly at James Potter who dived forward towards Voldemort simultaneously as he was targeted. The bright green curse just about literally parted his hair as he fell, turning a thick lock of his hair, a stark white, but otherwise leaving him unharmed, as it carried on behind him, blocked from Voldemort's view. As James landed his temple connected solidly with the corner of the thick hearthstone at the fireplace, instantly knocking him out and leaving him with an appearance of death.

Voldemort paused after the short duel, savouring the feeling of triumph he felt upon killing an enemy, someone who should've known better than to go against the might of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Basking in his sense of victory he glanced upward, his work was not finished this night, the bastard spawn's mother was still alive as well as the prophecy brat himself, he needed to finish them both before he could truly relish tonight's murders.

* * *

Lily turned away from the door to Harry's nursery, rushing across the room to her son, who was awake and crying, standing up in his crib, holding himself upright by the bars. Woken by the crashes and bangs below, baby harry was loudly crying his fright into the air. Lily, chest heaving in fear, picked up her son in her arms, hushing him and gently rocking him over her shoulder as she listened with horror to the sounds being generated downstairs as her husband fought for his his life.

Abruptly, she clearly heard the words "_Avada Kedavra_", a crash and then shocking and terrifying silence from below her. She knew that if it had been James who had succeeded he would have at once rushed up the stairs to check on her and harry. As the first few seconds trickled by with no sounds at all from the ground floor, she came to the conclusion that her husband was nearly certainly dead. And that his killer was coming to get them as well. As the horrifying truth and pain of her husbands death tried to batter at her mind, she ruthlessly suppressed it, knowing that harry's and herself's survival depended on her keeping hold of her senses, she could grieve later, at the moment her son needed her.

Holding harry securely she grabbed at the emergency portkey that was kept permanently in the nursery, for an eventuality like this, the small model of hogwarts which was the portkey grasped in her shaking hand.

"Activate!" she shouted out loud.

The figurine of the castle, representing safety, glowed a soft blue light and Lily felt a hooking sensation just below her navel start, before suddenly she was slammed back down onto the nursery room's floorboards. The blue light flickering out and leaving Lily to start crying tears of frustration and anger more than anything else as she failed to protect her baby.

Anti-portkey wards she realised with trepidation, knowing, that if they were in place her next action was going to be probably futile and also extremely painful. But she heard the bottom step of the stairs creak as someones weight was placed upon, the Dark Lord was approaching and her baby was still in danger. She knew she had to try even if it was a fool's hope.

Clutching harry to her even more tightly she held out her wand and twisted on the spot, feeling herself bend into an impossible space and with an elastic snap she was ejected again back into the nursery. She almost fell, as the rebound off the anti-apparation wards she had been dreading and expecting left her shaky, nauseous and for the first time that night feeling true despair.

Footsteps were squeaking and rasping their way up the old wooden staircase, sounding like the herald of death for her and her baby, she knew that Voldemort wanted harry above all, that she could leave him and try to escape herself as Voldemort murdered her baby.

But she was a mother, a mother who loved her son, and if she could manage it, nothing would ever harm her child, even if it cost her her own life in return, she would gladly accept that cost if her baby's continued safety was at stake. So she stayed, knowing that a monster who used to be man was approaching the door, understanding that probably nothing she did would likely make a difference to the outcome, her death and the ending of her son's life before it really had a chance to begin.

Lily turned and placed Harry carefully back into his crib, his cries even louder if that was possible, the dual sensation of portkey and apparation wards making him cry fearfully. She turned to face the door, standing in front of harry, wand out in her left hand, the tip pointed steadily into the doorway, as the soft footsteps she could hear drew nearer and nearer.

With a groan of the old brass hinges the nursery door swung lethargically open, revealing a figure straight from one of her nightmares. Lord Voldemort wand raised and with a sick smile upon his face stepped into the room. Lily was frozen, unable to move as the visage which had haunted her dreaming nights seemed to become reality right in front of her. The cold smirk upon his face grew wider as he recognised the the rabbit in the headlights effect he had upon her, something which he had much experience with stopping normally brave witches and wizards dead with just his bare presence. In an instant Lily seemed to jerk and awaken, starting to form an attack, a curse on the tip of her tongue, but Voldemort had utilised her moment of stillness and with a swift movement of his wand hers was pulled out of her hand and flung across the room.

Defiantly Lily kept her position in front of the crib, shielding harry with her body, she refused to show more fear than what her slight trembling expressed.

"Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!" She screamed.

"Stand aside you silly girl….stand aside now." Voldemort ordered her.

"Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead!" she begged. "Not Harry! Have mercy…..have mercy….."

"So be it" he spoke, flicking his wand to one side and sending lily crashing at high speed into the far wall, several cracks could be here, indicating that more than one bones had been broken if not shattered.

Moving to stand in front of the crib he took aim, forming the wand movement and incantation of his most powerful exploding hex.

"Nooooooooo!" somehow haven risen to her feet, Lily threw herself between him and crib the full force of the spell hitting her shoulder, gouging a bloody crater and slamming to the ground, only a slight twitching revealing her as still alive and doubtful at that.

Unnoticed by Voldemort a white light had flashed all over Harry the moment the curse had struck Lily. As runes written on the walls and floor also glowed softly with white light.

Focussing fully on the one prophesied to be his equal Voldemort stepped closer to the crib, until he was standing directly over the child and stared into the bright green eyes of baby Harry Potter.

Lifting his wand he pointed it at the face of the now quiet baby and with the thought of being finally unequalled firmly in his mind he pronounced.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

The green beam shot out of his wand and impacted the forehead of harry. At this point the runes written all over the floor and walls went from the soft white glow to a incandescent glare of energy, a deep thrumming started to be heard, quickly going up in pitch until a with a sudden piercing shriek and burst of nova bright white light all over harry the green light of the killing curse was reflected back at Lord Voldemort who alarmed and frightened at the events he didn't understand just stood and received the full brunt of his own deadly curse.

With a terrible howling and screeching the soul of the Darkest Lord in centuries was literally ripped from his body and sent fleeing, never to be seen again for many a long year. Yet a small part of the darkness that was Lord Voldemort was blasted off the main part and seeking a way to survive latched onto the closest living thing in the cottage, the small infant body of Harry Potter.

Who started to cry loudly and shrilly in pain, as a jagged cut started to ooze blood over his forehead, a cut that when looked at in a certain way resembled a lighting bolt.

* * *

As the light and the noise faded away into the night, the potter's cottage at Godric's Hollow was left quiet and still except for the crying infant. His parents grievously injured and the house half demolished.

And it is at this point that the something occurred which would nearly 17 years later give the older Harry Potter the biggest shock of his life.

For neither Hagrid, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew or any curious muggles were the first person to enter the Potter's cottage that fateful night. That person was loyal to Dumbledore, forced to serve the Dark Lord yet held a third person above either of these two.

Severus Snape had just come straight from freshly interrogating Peter Pettigrew, finding out from him the secret of the Potter's _fidelius charm_, but also discovering that the cowardly traitor had already revealed this information Lord Voldemort.

He had hurried after the Dark Lord, not thinking of what he might find in Godric's Hollow, neither deciding to fight the Dark Lord if he found yet to attack the Lily's family or to avenge them as he thought more likely. But the one overriding thought was to get to Lily and to make sure she was ok, never mind her husband or son.

She had to fine, he tried to convince himself, if she wasn't after the information he had given the Dark Lord….No he wouldn't think of that. Lily wouldn't, couldn't be dead, he didn't know how he could live with himself if she wasn't.

The only person who he had ever truly loved, the person who he thought he could share his life with. The person who had given him five years of dedicated friendship until he ruined it, wasted it, betrayed their friendship. Had driven her into the arms of the fucking James Potter.

And now he had basically signed her death warrant, all because of that blasted son of James Potter. Curiously the idea that Harry Potter was also the son of Lily Evans never entered his mind.

Apparating to Godric's Hollow he ran, his black cloak billowing out behind, his eyes wide with dread as he made his way to Lily's Cottage as quickly as possible. He had just turned the corner onto their street and could just see the cottage in the distance, when he fell to knees like a puppet with it's strings cut, he rolled onto his back, gripping his left forearm with his right hand as a pain he could only describe as a localised cruciatius curse coursed up and down his arm. Centring on a spot below the dark cuff of his robe that he knew was where the Dark Mark he now wore begrudgingly lay, he ripped his sleeve up, exposing the skull and snake tattoo. It writhed below his skin, glowing an angry red he had never seen before, still in agony he became aware of a bright light coming from above and behind his head, in the direction of Lily's cottage. Pushing his head back and arching his body while still cradling his arm, he had an upside down view of the top floor of Lily's cottage glowing a bright white light, he now heard a horrible screaming noise that reached a high pitch before abruptly stopping along with the light.

Snape suddenly relaxed as well, his muscles no longer straining due to the fact that the moment the weird screeching and light had stopped so had the pain from his Dark Mark, now looking down at the hated thing, he saw that the skull and snake which only minutes before had been a inky black now looked faded and blurred as if seen through a pane of dirty glass.

Standing he approached the cottage cautiously, whatever had just happened in there had obviously affected the Dark Lord in some way, and a methodical entry seemed appropriate. Getting up to the property line of the previously warm and homely home he stopped, examining the broken wards, there seemed to the usual protective wards and he recognised Lily Evans's signature charm work on them. But there appeared to be remnants of a overlapping second set with the Dark Lord's customary style, blocking anyone else than him from leaving the property by magical means.

Walking down the small paved path to the front door, or at least where the front door had been, now a pile of splinters and kindling was all that remained. Stepping over the entrance, he immediately spotted the unmistakeable sign of spell fire and duelling in this room. Scanning the area for any sign of Lily he admitted to himself that she would probably where the bastard's son was.

About to leave the room to search elsewhere, he suddenly saw a body, covered in debris and with a small pool of blood around it's top half. Striding over to it he saw at once that it was the body of James Potter, and at first glance it looked like he got what he deserved Snape thought viciously. But a desire to confirm led him to cast a basic diagnostic charm over him, he couldn't believe it when it showed he was not only alive but not even badly injured, just unconsciousness. Dam Potter, he couldn't even die right, Snape thought fleetingly of ending his misery but he couldn't bring himself to curse a man who couldn't defend himself even Potter.

Leaving him there Snape went back to searching for Lily, quickly looking around the ground floor he didn't find anything even any signs of damage, so he made his way up the stairs, to the top floor. He reached the landing and at once saw where all of the action had taken place, a door hung loosely on it's hinges a charred wooden sign reading Harry's Room visible on it. Taking small faltering steps through it, he wasn't sure he could survive seeing Lily's body, he walked in, and straightaway beheld Lily, with a cry of pain he fell to his knees and gathered her body into his arms. Her left shoulder was a bloody mess, with a large crater of flesh missing, cuts and abrasions all over body and what seemed like multiple broken bones in her limbs and ribs.

As he held her and cried, for she had to be dead, he noticed the child, sitting up in his cot staring at him, with a long bleeding cut on his forehead, completely silent. As he continued to sob, a shudder ran through his arms, he thought his arms were shaking at first then, with a second longer tremor he realised with a rush of emotion that Lily was alive. Quickly placing her on her front, he immediately started to cast all the healing spells he knew into the wound on her back, which was easily her most life threatening. After getting the bleeding to stop, he had reached the limit of what he could do, Lily would need trained medical personnel to help her further.

He quickly patched up her remaining serious injuries, splitting up her broken bones, and numbing the pain should she wake up. Once he had done this he had time to make a cursory examination of the room for the first time. The scene of devastation radiated out from the crib on the floor as if the boy inside had been the one responsible.

Which was absurd thought Snape, glancing around again he spotted a pile of ripped and ragged robes of a once fine material, in the middle of the floor, quickly looking through them he found an object which made his head spin and his heart falter.

He had pulled out a black yew wand, a wand all marked Death Eaters recognised as the Dark Lord's wand. Snape thought quickly, his brain made assumptions and deductions and came up with a few facts and theories. The dark lord's wand and tattered robes coupled with the strange reaction and appearance of the Dark Mark earlier left him with one conclusion, the Dark Lord was gone, uncertain if truly dead, but gone. The fact that James Potter's brat son was the only thing conscious and the trail of damage away from him led him to believe that the infant, the child of the prophecy was the one responsible for the dark lord's demise.

This left a chocking feeling in Snape's throat as he had quickly jumped to a further conclusion, Harry Potter would be a target every day he lived, and any one around him would be one as well. Lily, his beautiful Lily would be a target, be in danger.

No!

He had to do something to stop that, he would anything to stop that from happening. He would have to separate Lily from the boy, he couldn't get rid of the boy, as much as he loathed to admit it, he was the child in the prophecy and potentially important.

So Lily would have to disappear, but where, there was nowhere in the magical world he could hide her that she wouldn't be recognised. Then it came to him, if not the magical then the muggle world is where he could hide her. But he would need to memory charm her for her to live in the Muggle world. Any decent magical healer could remove the charm but in the muggle world it last decades. But how to hide the scheme from Dumbledore, he couldn't act that well for that length of time. He would have to dose himself with memory potion and wipe out the last 24 hours, he wouldn't remember that Lily was alive, but if that was the price to be paid for her safety then so be it.

His mind made up, he got ready to transport Lily to a muggle hospital he knew on the other side of the country, then he remembered that bloody James Potter was downstairs, fairly healthy and ready to wake up. He knew James Potter, if anything the man was stubborn, he would not rest until he had found Lily.

No, he couldn't let that happen either, no, Potter would have to go into hiding with Lily, Snape granted the fact that James Potter would look after Lily as a wizard or muggle.

Getting his plan into action, Snape went downstairs and levitated James's unconscious body up the stairs, and laid it next to Lily's body. He would memory charm and transport them from inside the nursery, the massive magical discharge which had happened earlier would disguise any lingering magical signature of what he was about to do.

With Lily stable and James still out of it, he cast a duplication charm on their bodies, providing him with two fake cadavers to fool the authorities with, trying to be quick as possible as he knew he wouldn't be alone for very long, he began the most complex, potentially dangerous and delicate part of the plan.

"_Obliviate_." Waving his wand over the both of them he spoke clearly the spell.

And ever so slowly he started to lower his wand, concentrating on retaining their core personalities and living skills yet systematically stripping them of any memories at all. This was the only way for the charm to hold for the length of time required by Snape's plan, to take every single memory but leave them able to function as fully formed adults with the same personalities. Essentially what makes James himself and Lily herself would remain, as well as any emotional attachment, they would still love each other, but at the same time have no memory of each other.

Snape was possibly one of only three to five people in the wizarding world to have the necessary mental training and willpower to perform this kind of spell to this degree on two people at the same time. It left him exhausted yet pleased that his plan was almost nearing completion.

He knew that he would have to send them by Portkey on their own, he couldn't risk anyone matching his description with anything to do with the Potters. He also knew that they would have to start a completely new life for themselves, no friends, no family and no money, house or even clothes to call their own. He was quite looking to see how spoilt little rich boy James Potter survived without his blasted inheritance. But he felt that for Lily's sake he would give them enough for a small start, emptying his coin purse he had found he had on him twenty galleons which made of solid gold would fetch a tidy sum in the muggle world, if the potters were careful.

Tucking the purse into one of Lily's pockets he also took the time to strip them of any personal belongings that would allow them to trace the wizarding world, he of course kept the wands back in Godric's Hollow, and removed a few items like a snitch from James, Snape gave a sneer at this, and a moving photo from Lily.

After much deliberation he decided to let them keep their wedding rings, they weren't magical and were both engraved with their names James&Lily on each band. They would at least keep the same first name this way.

This the final job done Snape held up his wand and grabbing a stuffed lion, one of Harry's baby toys he tapped it with his wand and muttered "Portus". Leaning back he placed one each of their hands on top of the lion and tapped it with his wand.

It immediately glowed blue and the bodies of Lily and James disappeared with a small "pop". As they travelled on their to a grassy area right outside the door to St Catherine's Hospital A&E Department in the Lake District.

Snape fell down onto his knees, letting out a quiet sigh, it was done, and now with any luck Lily would be safe for the rest of her life. He stood up after several minutes rest, and casually started to butcher the fake cadavers, so that no one would bother to check these bodies for signs of life, it would be a closed casket unfortunately thought Snape with a smirk. That done he got up to leave only then realising that Lily's son, Harry Potter had watched the entire proceedings, turning his back on the child he only muttered sorry as he left the boy to grow up without parents and unloved.

Disappearing back to Hogwarts, Snape went directly to his potions lab, and swiftly made the promised memory potion. He neither cared nor worried about that in his foolish and failed plan to protect Lily Potter from any pain, he kept a little boy from his parents, he caused the loss of identify for two people, caused and innocent man to be imprisoned for twelve years, and second man to lose all friendship he had.

Slowing tipping the potion into his mouth, Snape had one instant of doubt that he was doing the right thing, but as the potion took effect that swiftly became, what right thing? And to who? And what had he been doing for the last twenty four hours?

Sinking into the potions sleep, Snape never again became aware of what he had done and woke next morning to the painful news of Lily's death.


End file.
